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This is "The Place" for rapid success and profits with order flow, global macro, and news tradingMon, 08 Jan 2018 23:36:05 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.9Have Faith and Forgive Yourself For Trading Successhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OrderFlowForex/~3/RQgNyGA9x5s/
http://orderflowforex.com/2018/01/faith-forgive-trading-success/#respondMon, 08 Jan 2018 23:36:05 +0000http://orderflowforex.com/?p=33910The trading secrets crucial to success that are not talked about much.

Here are two more of them:

Faith and Forgiveness In Yourself.

They don’t cost much money. Their monetary cost is zero. And they give you an edge over others. Yet, there are many traders out there who believe that they have to spend hundred or thousands of dollars per month on this or that fancy system or news sources, etc.

I reckon just as much money is lost, due to lack of faith and lack of forgiveness, than any problems with a trading system or method. And I reckon that there is a lot of money not made by traders, and a lot of money left on the table, due to the lack of faith and forgiveness, than any problem with a trading system or method.

Let’s start with Forgiveness first.

Forgiveness

Stuff happens in life. You may go to work in the morning, come home, and, well, stuff might happen. Maybe you had an argument with a family member in the morning. Maybe you used foul language to someone on the way to work. Maybe you made a mistake at work and embarrassed the company. Maybe that swing trade had on that you thought would work out is not going in your favor. Maybe you forgot to pick up that thing after work. Maybe you did an impulse purchase that put you over the budget for the month. Maybe your trading account is in draw down for the third time this year and you just added more money to the account again. Maybe you couldn’t find time to get in that workout and skipped it for the past week. Maybe you bought the wrong gift for someone. Maybe you forgot someones birthday.

Maybe this.

Maybe that.

Bottom line is – so much stuff can happen to you in life on any given day. Both at work and outside of work. Both inside your home and outside your home. Both events internally generated by you, and also externally that comes to you.

And forgiveness of yourself is a crucial habit to form on a daily basis.

Therefore…

If you got angry at your spouse… forgive yourself.

If you suffered a double digit drawdown… forgive yourself.

If you ate an extra donut or two you shouldn’t have… forgive yourself.

If you showed poor judgement in selecting a business partner… forgive yourself.

If you missed out on a fantastic trade… forgive yourself.

If you had a few relationships that did not work out… forgive yourself.

If you should have bought that currency pair rather than the other one… forgive yourself.

If you should have bought that stock that rose +70%, rather than that other stock that only rose +10%… forgive yourself.

Etc…

With the year 2017 having come to an end, and the new year 2018 beginning – forgive yourself no matter what happened.

And GET SMARTER.

I see some people who are only hard on themselves. The philosophy that no one is harder on you than you. I understand that and applaud that.

However, I see many young people who are being too hard on themselves for too long. Stop running yourself down with your own thoughts. Empower yourself with faith and forgiveness.

STOP bashing your own head against the wall over your so called mistakes. There is no need to do that. They are “experiences” and “adventures,” not mistakes.

As the pop star Selena Gomez even said that what she would tell her younger self is that she’s:

Believe that you are currently doing a great job and look where you can be smarter.

With being less hard on yourself and redirecting that energy and emotion to the right thinking, success would come easier.

That welling up of the emotion of forgiveness inside of you could be the force that determines whether you get up the next day bright and early and give trading another chance. Giving it a SMARTER shot.

And then: GET SMARTER. So the next time, the likelihood of that happening is much less.

Onto Faith.

Faith

They say that Faith is the ability to see things that do not yet exist in the material world – the world of the five senses.

Faith – that ability to transport those things that do not yet exist into what you believe your future is going to be. It is an awesome force transporting such events from imagination into the future – your future.

That vision of the future transported into your mind’s eye.

That you can be richer and more powerful and healthier than ever before.

Looking back at my life and all the parties, events, homes I have been to and visited, among the common person, in the common household, there is a lack of belief. That lack of faith existed among them. I reckon that was a key reason why they just stayed in mediocrity and did not break out into greatness.

Therefore…

Have faith that there is another higher level of trading out there. And that this current stage you are in, you will get through.

Have faith in both those scenarios. That you will transcend to a higher level. Because in truth, such an attitude can make or break your year.

Personal Examples of Faith and Forgiveness:

Take some examples from my own life about Faith and Forgiveness:

When I took a double digit drawdown after a wrong news trade, I had to reflect, develop new principles, and forgive myself and have faith in myself for the next trade.

That does not mean that I could just go place horrible trades and have faith and pray that it’s going to work out. I had to be smarter and place better trades. And I could do that by finding the right principles to apply, then actually implementing them.

Every single time I gained new knowledge and found a better trading strategy – from technical indicators to chart patterns to price patterns to order flow trading and then global macro trading, I had to forgive myself and have faith. I had to forgive myself for my past stupidity and errors. For spending all that time in the trading forums where my time could have been better spent elsewhere. And to have faith in myself as I learned more about and implemented the new trading strategy.

One morning I woke up a bit disoriented, rather than with explosive energy and clarity. I was not sure why, since I had gotten plenty of sleep, ate healthy foods, etc. But I kept at it with my morning routine and rituals. I had faith and belief in my morning routine of my nutritious breakfast, prayer, etc. I did not worry about it one bit. And by the time I was playing tennis a few hours later, I was real good. I had an effective morning routine, had faith in it, implemented it and it worked. That’s the trick by the way – having an effective routine, and also having faith in it and working it. Get all three of those elements working for you.

When I play tennis – I have to forget about the mistake I made a few seconds ago. I should not label it silly or stupid or anything else. I have to just accept it as it is, and not label it. And move on to the next play. After all, I know how to play the game, I know how to swing and serve and move my feet, etc. I know how to play. It’s not like I don’t know how to do it. I know how. So I have to instantaneously forgive and then move on.

Trader Examples / Other Examples of Faith and Forgiveness:

One of the world’s largest hedge funds in the 1990’s, started off the first few months of the year being down -10%. They then proceeded to end the year being up +40%. There was surely an element of forgiveness and faith that the Chief Investment Officer and team behind him were still GOOD.

One of the world’s largest hedge funds in the early 1980’s had made money for 12 years straight. But then suffered a loss in the 13th year. The leader had to forgive himself. And have faith that he was still good. That’s what one of the greatest hedge fund managers in the world had to do. That man’s name was George Soros.

I also remember one person describing Soros as having no emotional attachment to a trading position. Thus, Soros learned how to forgive himself and have faith.

One of the great traders of the first half of the 20th century – Jesse Livermore had to forgive himself and have faith. He got involved with some wrong people in the early part of his trading career and lost his fortune. He had to forgive and rebuild, so that when the Roaring 1920’s bull market in stocks came, he could have full mental and physical power to benefit from it and compound profits year after year. He could not be sulking and beating himself over what happened to him 10, 15, 20 years before.

One discretionary trader wrote about how he didn’t care about the mistake he made a few seconds ago. That same trader went on to make tens of millions of dollars within the next twelve months.

Another of the greatest hedge fund managers, before he struck out on his own, punched his boss when he was working for someone else in his 20’s. And he got fired. Well, he had to forgive himself and move on to positive action.

There are also plenty of examples from outside the trading world.

One person was telling the story of how he co signed a deal when he didn’t have much money. He ended up becoming a bestselling author and made millions. However, when the other person who co signed the deal could not live up to the terms, the author had to pay $500,000 of his own money. The author had to forgive himself and move along in life to the next opportunity. And be smarter next time. And yes, he was able to release and promote another bestselling book.

One man I spoke to, he was on his 4th marriage. He first got married at age 19. Lasted less than a year. Then got married again, and lasted for a few years. Finally on his 4th time, he got it right and his marriage has endured many decades and they had three wonderful and beautiful daughters. Faith in himself and forgiveness in himself – every step of the way.

One man eventually rose to be reverend of his church later in life, after a successful business career. In particular he had a sushi restaurant in town for many years that was enormously popular and made him a lot of money. He wrote in an article for the church newsletter that he used to get angry at his mother and hit her severely. This was done when he was in his 20’s. He had to forgive himself of those dark days of his past and have faith in himself to become reverend of his church.

One of the greatest tennis players in the world at the current moment, at a point early in his career before he became great, he thought of quitting many times. If he did not keep the faith – keep trying, keep training, keep learning about the game, keep mastering his body, mind and soul, then all those hundreds of millions, all those trophies and all that glory would not have come to him, and would have gone to someone else. Therefore, he had to forgive himself and keep the faith.

One millionaire, his wife was pregnant with their second child and she was in a coma. She was in the hospital and the doctors were doing what they could. Among all the other things in this situation, it also required FAITH. Faith in a positive outcome. Faith in the perfect outcome. And yes she did get out of the coma, give birth to a healthy baby and the mother made a full recovery as well.

Take the actor Robert Downey Jr. Had a history of substance abuse. First wife left him. Eventually he made a stunning comeback with multiple blockbuster films. Had to have faith and forgiveness in himself.

Martha Steward had to bounce back from her insider trading case in the early 2000’s.

Actress Winona Ryder had to bounce back from shoplifting arrest in 2001.

Rapper Jay-Z had to bounce back from the stabbing arrest in 1999.

And I’m sure every country in the world has similar and even more dramatic stories. Whatever fields you are passionate about, whatever hobbies you are passionate about – there are such stories of forgiveness, redemption and faith.

And you will see clear patterns of how they became a better person, made even more money than they ever imagined, and had a bigger and more effective voice for change than ever before.

They all had to forgive themselves, extract the insights to be smarter – and then implement with faith.

How To Have Faith and Forgiveness

There are two general categories and three general ways this can happen to you.

The two categories are self generated versus outside generated.

The self generated category is pretty self explanatory. It means that you self generate forgiveness to yourself.

Or it can be someone else extending forgiveness to you from the outside or them extending forgiveness to themselves or another person and you perceiving it. This comes from the outside to you.

The three general ways are:

When you self generate forgiveness to yourself. You have faith and forgiveness via the mechanism of granting it to yourself.

When someone else forgives you. You have faith and forgiveness via the mechanism of someone else bestowing it upon you, when you didn’t realize you could do it yourself or didn’t feel you were worthy, etc.

And the final way is when you notice someone else extending forgiveness to themselves or to another person, and you perceive it and think about it, etc. You are a third party that is observing them. And then something “clicks” in your mind and you can then have faith and forgive yourself.

Those are some of the ways it can happen to you.

Therefore, you can have faith and forgiveness in yourself FIRST. Then you can show it to others. This is is one perspective.

The other perspective is show faith and forgiveness in others FIRST. Then you can bestow it upon yourself. As that which you forgive in others, you forgive in yourself. As the world is a mirror that reflects your thinking. This is the other perspective.

Try them both and see what you find.

Also try to PRAISE yourself, even if you can’t seem to find anything to praise at that moment in time. Puff yourself up. You may find a reason later in the day that grants you the substance behind your praise.

By forgiving yourself, by praising yourself, and having faith in yourself, by doing these, then you can gain new knowledge, find those new principles, new habits, etc, to latch onto and get the substance behind that praise of yourself.

Be Smarter

Therefore, this holiday season forgive yourself and have faith in your actions.

]]>http://orderflowforex.com/2018/01/faith-forgive-trading-success/feed/0http://orderflowforex.com/2018/01/faith-forgive-trading-success/The First Thing To Learn for Trading Successhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OrderFlowForex/~3/pk-sklDbrd0/
http://orderflowforex.com/2017/12/the-first-thing-to-learn-for-trading-success/#respondSat, 02 Dec 2017 02:58:03 +0000http://orderflowforex.com/?p=33886There is one overlooked and underappreciated skill that precedes and helps to cause trading success.

It is so simple that most people ignore it and go straight to trying to buy and sell using various technical indicators and chart patterns.

What is that one thing? It is to learn and master the English Language.

Learn and Master English – FIRST

When I look back at my journey from my current vantage point, I see new insights that previously remained hidden. Even before I mastered global macro trading, even before I mastered news trading or order flow trading, or how and why prices moved, there was one thing that I did FIRST.

What made the difference?

That was increasing my knowledge and mastery of the English language.

Back when I got started in the mid 2000’s, this was a contrary position to take in some trading circles. There was the boom in China and India and some people were talking about how your children should grow up learning Mandarin Chinese. Well, back then it was the right call for me to learn and master English. And I would say the same thing today – to go learn and master the English language.

It seemed like a bold move at the time. But why?

Because there was certainly a large part of me that really wanted to just focus on the trading. To just focus on firing up my charting platform, putting on technical indicators – and trading. The urge was certainly great in me. Thankfully though, I also had some semblance of the reality of the situation.

I sat there one day in my first year of trading and wondered why it wasn’t working out. Why wasn’t I making any money? Incredible frustration and confusion and helplessness set in. I was intuitively asking myself: What could I do?

What I knew at that time was that I struggled to read and understand completely various trading articles and books. When I first read the Market Wizards books, I was confused. I asked myself, why was that?

One of the reasons was because the books and articles were using what to me seemed like advanced vocabulary. They were not just using “investor” or “trader” terminology – they were using more advanced English. Eventually, it occurred to me that even though I had a high school education, that I still could and should improve further. I realized that even with my education, that did not mean my ability to read and understand English and trading articles and books was at a high level.

I realize I had to educate myself and do it properly. That it was my responsibility to learn greater language skills.

That’s when I decided to attain a greater mastery over the English language.

So what did I do? I took positive action and got a dictionary and after I read a word I did not understand, I would circle it, and look it up and write in some simpler words as a definition on the book or article. It was tough and time consuming in the beginning. A large part of me wanted to just read the book and article and be done with it. But I stuck with this plan of mine. It was so necessary to my development as a trader and a person. And most importantly, it paid off – in dollars.

After doing that for a year or two, I got much better at interpreting the trading information flow. And shortly after that I got my first big trading success.

What was responsible for my first trading success? Surely it was the order flow strategies I had discovered, developed and implemented.

But also, in preparation for developing and implementing those, it was my enhanced ability to read, write, speak and understand the English language.

That was how the process went.

I jump started my trading career and first successes by learning and mastering English. That allowed me to master the how and why of price movement. Which led to my mastery over stop losses and option barriers, and eventually to mastery over news trading and finally global macro trading. It all started with my commitment to learning and mastering English. That combination of trading strategies plus better English has been an enormous benefit to my life.

Yes, certainly I had to learn the “trader” terminology. I had to learn the trading strategies. But I also had to learn better English. This is a very overlooked skill that can boost your success that I have never read about in any trading book. They skip it over because they just automatically assume that the average person will figure it out. Well, in over a decade at this, I can tell you with confidence that most don’t figure it out.

I realized back then that people were judging me – every day, due to the way I talked and the words I was using. And I did not believe that it was a favorable first impression I was making most of the time. I knew something had to change.

They say you are judged first by what you wear, then by your speech, then by what you do. Well, you can wear the best clothes, but if you can’t string together coherent and effective sentences to get a quality idea through, then you can get stuck in life. There are lots of people working in low level jobs in the local community for years and decades, and you can tell they are using the same words that they started with. They have not grown much. So they can get stuck in life.

As the rock legend Gene Simmons said:

“Learn to speak English. And learn to do it well. And learn to speak it without an accent.”

“Speak English without an accent… If I can’t understand what you’re saying to me, or if your accent is too strong, the impression I’ll get won’t be about the content of the conversation. It will be about your accent.”

“It’s your responsibility to learn to speak English properly.”

“Everyone is proud of his own culture, but we should communicate in a common language and uphold certain cultural/economic/political ideals… And in America, that means speaking English, regardless of our birth language.”

Therefore, even though it may sound weird – you can jump start your trading career and plant a firm foundation – by learning English, first. Then you can go wherever you want to go.

Masters in Many Fields – know English

If you take a look at the Forbes list of wealthiest people, not all of them, but most of them know good English.

People in so many industries and professions – know and have good English.

You might see some sports athletes age 19, 20 who have not yet mastered the sport and English. But, by age 25 or 27, they are winning big and they have mastered the sport and their words are very different as well. They are thinking more clearly and speaking more clearly. They are having more powerful thoughts and expressing them in clearer terms. Heck, you can even see the athletes progressions by finding an interview of them at age 19, and another at age 27 on YouTube, and see just how much improved their language is.

Eventually these successful people get asked to do interviews, etc. And they have to know and master some language – and it is usually English. For an athlete to have global exposure, global brand endorsements – it usually helps for them to know and master English.

Master English for Greater Trading Scenario Analysis Powers

One of the most important skills in trading and in life for the 21st century is that of the mind power of Scenario Analysis.

How well can you play out scenarios in the market about what will happen in the near future? How well can you play out scenarios in your life about what trajectory you are on?

I have noticed that the lack of English language skills results in diminished scenario analysis powers. Not in every single case, but that has been my general observation. Those who cannot think straight and form clear and accurate sentence in writing or the spoken word are probably not going to have good trading scenario analysis powers either.

And in trading the power of your mind to accurately play out trading scenarios is a crucial skill to not just develop, but to MAXIMIZE as well.

My parents never mastered English and they were disadvantaged in life because of it. They never had superb scenario analysis in life to aid them in their decision making.

I have friends both male and female who are older than me who have not yet mastered English even though they have been living in America for over a decade. And I can see that it is limiting their opportunities, consciousness, etc, not just in work, but in the romance department of life as well.

So I see it with both people younger and older than me.

Those who have not mastered English, are usually disadvantaged in life.

Those who have mastered English are advantaged in life. It is an automatic advantage and edge in life that works silently in the background for you – every single day.

Master English to Make Greater Trading Profits

I have successfully sold my products and programs to people living in the Asia Pacific region. However, upon closer analysis there is a great difference in refund rates between various countries. Those customers located in China and Singapore areas tend to refund at much higher rates than those living in Australia. The refund rates in Australia are very low.

I was pondering why that was so and the one reason I came up with is that the people living in China and Singapore may not know as good English as those in Australia. The people living in Australia can probably read, speak, write and overall understand English a lot better. So they can understand the trading material and strategies better, and thus make more trading profits.

Selling to people in Australia is a great joy for me as they understand the material better, they implement better, they make more money and I get fabulous comments and testimonials from them.

Which brings me back to my point about – if you are not succeeding in trading, not making as much money as you believe you should be making and don’t yet know how to read, speak, write and understand ENGLISH, then make that a priority. Get it done.

Then you can interpret the trading information and books, with your better grasp of the English language, and can then make better trading decisions and make more money.

My increase in trading profits went hand in hand with my increase in mastery of the English language. They both went up together.

Master Traders Ideas are in WORDS – in ENGLISH

So many of the master traders of the past and present – know English. If you go look up traders like Jesse Livermore, Alfred Winslow Jones, Michael Steinhardt, George Soros, Paul Tudor Jones, Ray Dalio, etc. They all know and have mastered English.

For example, when someone interviews a master trader, the master trader responds with words. The trader’s wisdom, strategies, philosophies, principles, etc, come out as words – in ENGLISH.

One of the reasons I did not understand the Market Wizards books the first time around and was confused was because I needed to learn better English!!

When the hedge fund manager Ray Dalio recently published a book called Principles – well it is a book filled with words – in ENGLISH!!

Most of the traders in the Market Wizards books know and have mastered English. They are no dummies in that area.

Also, if I think about it – deeply think about it, most of the greatest trading books and articles in history I have ever read, were first written and published in ENGLISH. After that they may have been translated into other languages at a later date. But they were initially created – in ENGLISH. Therefore, if a trader does not have a good grasp of the English language, how are they going to learn the trading wisdom from the masters? Those who do not know English can be at a disadvantage, depending on their trading strategy and other circumstances.

Therefore focus and have a good command of the English language.

Learn English for A Surge in Self Confidence

The increase in self confidence from thinking, speaking and writing more clearly is profound. It helps to provide a foundation that prevents hopelessness, depression, etc. It provides a foundation that can sustain enthusiasm for extended periods of time.

As my knowledge of the English language soared, and my knowledge of trading soared, so did my self confidence. It was a success cycle. One thing led to another. Greater vocabulary and English led to developing more effective trading strategies and habits, which led to more money, which led to more self confidence. More self confidence led to sustained and increased motivation to continue to master the English language and trading.

Any time you can find and implement this kind of success cycle – use it.

Conclusion:

That is why before you go all crazy and try to fire up your trading charts and slap on technical indicators and rush to make a buying decision in any market, or bitcoin, etc, ask yourself: Have I mastered the English language first?

Because it might be the missing piece of the puzzle that allows you to get to the next level of success in life. It was for me some 10 years ago.

Whether you are a 20 year old trader or 50 year old trader – learn English.

After you make progress on that you can then go and learn the how and why of price movement. First get better at English, then learn the why and how of price movement for the order flow foundations.

Then the arsenal of trading strategies waiting for you to use for profit become much more accessible.

]]>http://orderflowforex.com/2017/12/the-first-thing-to-learn-for-trading-success/feed/0http://orderflowforex.com/2017/12/the-first-thing-to-learn-for-trading-success/Do You Make These Trading Mistakes?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OrderFlowForex/~3/VOHYkUCyqYE/
http://orderflowforex.com/2017/11/do-you-make-these-trading-mistakes/#respondFri, 17 Nov 2017 02:11:32 +0000http://orderflowforex.com/?p=33839The surest and fastest way to trading success?

It is to avoid the mistakes, the pitfalls, and to focus on what really works.

While I can’t presume to know everything about trading, in my decade plus of trading and research and conversations with traders, here are the some of the common trading mistakes.

Why Most Traders Make Mistakes

Seven trading mistakes are presented here. But, taking a step back first, why do most traders make mistakes?

From my observation, simply because they never learned about a better way to trade. It’s not their fault. If no one ever taught them or explained to them, how is a trader to know what to avoid and what to focus on?

Trading Mistake #1: They Don’t Know How and Why A Market Moves

A trader enters the markets with such enthusiasm. They can proceed forward with various charts and indicators.

But do they really know how the market moves?

Do they really know why the market moves?

In my experience, most traders do not really know how and why the market moves. Even with all these new trading books coming out every year, how many of them teach you what really moves the market? The answer is not many of them. Less than 5% do.

This lack of knowledge about order flow and market structure kills most traders. They don’t know the foundations of market prices moving up and down, so they struggle to build a successful system with a trading edge.

Trading Mistake #2: They Don’t Know How to Interpret Information Flow

Since a trader usually does not know how and why a market moves, they can also struggle with interpreting news and information flow.

If one thinks about it, there is all this information generated every day. Both on the chart and outside of the chart.

The trading information generated on the chart can include the price/bar patterns, the chart patterns, the technical indicators are doing their calculations, etc.

The information that exists outside of the chart (which is usually the most lucrative), can include elements such as sentiment, news, global macro, etc.

But how does a trader sort it all out? How does one know what to focus on, to give your undivided attention to, and what to immediately avoid?

Here’s an example from this year.

There were a few traders I talked to this year and they wondered if they should short equities.

And I told them: Well, all these North Korean tensions, missile launches, etc, and the market won’t go down much or stay down for very long. That shows bullish sensitivity. And there was economic improvement in US, Europe and China, so there was definitely at least a slight bullish bias for equities, even as the Federal Reserve gradually removes monetary policy accommodation. And even though valuations are high, that doesn’t mean they can’t go higher. The global macro bias for the market was higher. Hence the current +14% rally so far for the year 2017.

Other people told me they liked gold, they liked bitcoin. And I told them I didn’t see any opportunity in that. I did tell them I much preferred to have long equity exposure this year. I much preferred a long AAPL position rather than long gold or long bitcoin position.

Those traders who wanted to short equities, did not know how to read the news, read the market action, read the global macro. They could have done much better and generated greater profits for themselves this year.

Trading Mistake #3: Trade at Too Big of a Position Size

If a trader does not know how and why a market moves, and they don’t know how to interpret information flow, they can fall victim to this third mistake. Which is that of trading with too big a position size.

After all, if a trader gets all caught up in the emotions and excitement, funds a trading account, and then starts placing trades, there is a good chance they will be overtrading, and placing trades with too big a position size. They don’t know any better.

They are having visions of making triple digits in a year, or of making double digits in a single day and start placing lots of trades and big trades as well. They get this feeling inside of them that they are going to make 100% or 1 million bucks in a single month and swing for the fences. And they don’t know how to spot a good trade or a perfect trade.

One of the top hedge fund traders in the world once said that the biggest mistake he sees is that people trade with too big a position size.

People who trade too big, typically have very strong desire, very strong willpower. To massive action and putting a lot of their money on the line, etc. However, they just have to have a bit more wisdom to figure out how to more properly channel such strong desire. You cannot go in, guns blazing, and go for the jugular on every single trade. You require knowledge and wisdom to know when to do that.

They can be taking risks for 5% or 10% or more of their account, when they should be trading much smaller. A lot better to start out risking 1% or 2%, or even less than 1% on a single trade. Giving yourself a lot of “swings of the bat” is important when you are starting out. As you want to do all you can to avoid the situation where you lose too much or blow a trading account before your skill and edge kick in and make you a million dollars.

Again, if a trader does not know about how a market moves, why it moves, and how to interpret information flow to structure trades, then how can they possibly have proper position sizing strategies? For proper position sizing, it helps greatly to know exactly how the market moves, why it moves and how big of an opportunity is presenting itself via the interpretation of information flow. Then, with greater clarity on those elements, you can get to a more proper position sizing.

As I am writing this, some rookie traders are getting all excited about trading bitcoin. They are funding an account, with what must be some dubious brokers. They are placing trades to buy bitcoin, which can be very volatile in a single day. They don’t know why the price moves up or down! And they just place a bunch of trades, which invariably they are trading at too big of a position size.

Trading Mistake #4: Believe the Market Knows What Position They Have On

If a trader does not know how and why a market moves, how to interpret information flow, and trades at too big a positon size, they can suffer losses. And these losses can make them cynical about the market. They might think the market knows what positions they have on and is moving against them and their stop losses are getting hit and they are getting shaken out of trades.

When an aspiring trades takes losses, a lot of consecutive losses, they might grow cynical. After all, they feel they are trying so hard, thinking so hard, etc.

The truth is that the market cannot possibly know what position you have on, or what trade you have on.

The market is IMPERSONAL. It cannot possibly know or care about your order. The only exceptions in history have been some very large hedge funds having on large positions. But generally, if you are a small or medium sized player in the market, the market doesn’t know or care what your position is. Even when George Soros broke the Bank of England in 1992 by shorting $10 billion of British Pounds, the market did not care. The market was still going to do it’s thing.

Whether you place zero trades or a dozen trades today, the market is going to keep on doing whatever it wants to do – according to the “underlying forces,” the macro forces. The market cannot possibly know or care about what trade you just placed or what positions you have in your portfolio. The only exception is if it is a very large hedge fund using a lot of leverage. That is the exception. In most cases, the market doesn’t care about your trades.

When you attain the awareness that the market is impersonal and moves according to far more natural “macro forces” this is an extremely liberating and freeing feeling. New horizons and opportunities open up for you.

Trading Mistake #5: Not Having Trading Habits

Someone decides to be a trader, whether part time and full time. They wake up, grab some coffee, go into their trading area, and… then what happens?

Do they have any habits, any process to work that can generate positive results?

For me, it was one of the worst feelings in the world, one day waking up, money in a trading account, firing up my trading platform, seeing all these prices flickering and fluctuating, and then wondering…. Well what do I do? It’s that feeling that hits you in your gut. That’s when I realized I had to change and develop real HABITS, that could work for me, day in and day out.

That feeling of being a new trader and waking up bright and early in the morning… and not knowing what you should be doing to analyze the market and find profitable trades. A rotten feeling.

It’s usually a mistake not having some kind of plan. It’s usually a mistake not having trading habits.

This can be corrected – with HABITS. Whether those habits take 5 minutes or 30 minutes. Have habits that give you a trading edge.

What habits do is allow you to focusyour excitement and ambition… onto magical habits.

Focused on establishing effective habits.

Trading Mistake #6: They Spend Too Much Time on Trading Forums / Poor Time Management

This was a mistake I made in my first year or two as a trader. I spent far too much time on the trading forums.

Also, my time management was poor and I was allowing too many distractions during the market hours and research part of the day.

Why was I spending too much time on the trading forums? Why was my time management weak?

The reason was probably due to my lack of habits. When a trader does not have proper habits, you can naturally desire to spend your trading time in another direction. Where is that somewhere? Well, since trading can at times feel like a solitary profession, people like to be social – via the trading forums. So they go and view the various forums threads and participate there.

Back then I didn’t realize what I know now. Which is that 95-99% of that information was not accurate, relevant and powerful. Most of the information was useless. I was trying to search for diamonds in the garbage. And I was wasting so much time. I knew I had to change. I had a massive desire for something different. But what was that change I could make? That was when order flow trading was discovered for me and I developed my trading habits I could use every day.

Trading Mistake #7: Lack of Proper Success Environment / Atmosphere

This is your trading room. It’s not a sweatshop. It should be a place that energizes you, inspires you, fills you with good trading ideas, etc.

It is your sanctuary. Treat it as such. Really think about it’s design, about what goes in and out, what goes on your walls, etc.

You don’t want to just have blank, white walls in your trading room. You don’t want to just have a simple, clean desk all the time. You want to strategically place valuable material on your desk and around you that will energize you, inspire you, fill you with good trading ideas, etc.

Some of the key elements I have in my trading room, environment and atmosphere are things such as my handy checklist for the 8 Rules for the Perfect Trade. I have my list of various exit strategies. I have index cards taped to my trading monitors of really big trades that could be setting up in the near future. I have a binder filled with charts and explanations of the greatest trades in history. I have pictures of friends and family. Those are just some of what makes up my “success environment and atmosphere.”

If you want the highest possible chance of success (and you should!), then really place yourself in a trading environment conducive to your maximum success.

We’ve Made It Easier For You

Now it is easier for you to avoid these mistakes and put yourself on the fast lane to trading success. There is a course about this refreshing way to trade the markets called The Order Flow Mastery Course. Don’t miss this exceptional opportunity to boost your trading powers to the highest levels of your life. Click here now.

]]>http://orderflowforex.com/2017/11/do-you-make-these-trading-mistakes/feed/0http://orderflowforex.com/2017/11/do-you-make-these-trading-mistakes/How to Play Snapchat Stockhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OrderFlowForex/~3/_9AJVyrL8NA/
http://orderflowforex.com/2017/09/play-snapchat-stock/#respondSat, 09 Sep 2017 21:03:54 +0000http://orderflowforex.com/?p=33799One of the most hotly anticipated IPO’s of 2017 was Snapchat (SNAP).

The stock opened in March 2017 at $24.00 a share. After spiking higher to $29.00, it has since come off a lot.

With all the hysteria around a stock IPO, a more objective analysis of what is going on must occur.

Let’s analyze the stock from an order flow perspective and see if we can see any opportunities.

The IPO was 12x oversubscribed when it was offered to the institutional investors around $17 a share. That is a lot of demand and they thought they were getting a bargain. But in exchange for getting in at this price, many of them cannot sell right away. There is a certain “lock-up” period where they cannot sell. So the institutional investor has to gauge whether or not it is worth it to invest at the IPO price, with the slight disadvantage being there is the lock-up period.

The stock opened at $24.00 a share, and spiked higher to $29.00 in a few days. However, all those institutional investors that got in at $17 cannot sell and take profits yet, because there is a lockup.

As a trader, you can day trade and swing trade SNAP stock of course.

First Principles in an IPO situation

Therefore, the first principle is that when a stock IPO finally starts trading, you have to make a decision on whether the open price represents a trading opportunity or not.

In this case it didn’t. But you don’t have to have hindsight to know that.

If you take a look at what happened with the Facebook (FB) IPO, the stock opened around $42.00. The price eventually fell over -50%, to $18.00 or so, before stabilizing and rising.

So a similar thing could have been assumed for Snapchat, especially if the stock was priced at the high end of the range.

The goal of a company IPO is to raise money. They want to raise money to fund operations and grow. So the company has to make a decision on whether to sell the shares to the IPO investors and extract as much as they can which may mean limited upside potential. Or whether to sell the shares to the IPO investors a bit lower so they get a better deal, but the company raises less money.

FB and SNAP did their best to extract maximum dollars in their IPO. Which means less of an immediate opportunity to buy the stock when they go public.

In such a cases, it is best to be patient and wait.

Just as FB fell by -50% and it was a buying opportunity, so did SNAP fall -50% from the open price and it was a buying opportunity.

See the two charts below:

That was the much more enlightened way to play the stock.

To not be suckered in at the price above $20.00 like so many amateurs got sucked into with all that delusion and irrational emotion.

There was one lady who bought Snapchat stock simply because “it was in the news.” It seemed to be the hot thing at the time and she bought it. I am not sure how many shares she bought. Might have been a few thousand dollars worth. I don’t know when she got out, or if she got out, but she might have lost thousands of dollars.

Her decision was driven by pure emotion. There was no logic. No reason. No good scenario to bet on. No reward risk ratio analysis. There was none of that. It was all purely an emotional decision, without any wisdom in it.

There would have been no reason to lose that money. She could have been a bit smarter.

She could have chosen a different path.

She could have read a good trading book or course. She could have sought knowledge, a process, a blueprint, such as The Perfect Trade Blueprint. If she invested $50 or a few hundred dollars in training, to make herself and her mind more valuable, this situation could have been avoided, and a more profitable outcome could have happened.

If you are ever wondering where your profits from the stock market or currency market come from, they can come from people such as these. It can be from the mom and pop investors. The amateurs. But also from the large hedge funds, pension funds who have billions of dollars. Just because they have so much money, advanced technology, etc, doesn’t mean they always get it right. They do get it wrong sometimes, and when they do there is a wealth transference from them to the smart traders.

Again, I am not saying you should be a robot, without emotions. Emotions are part of life. If you combine them with a bit of wisdom, then you will get better results. Emotion + Wisdom means you are on the path to success.

Stop Losses Were Below $17.00

When Snapchat stock fell below $17.00, there was a gap lower with continuation lower, as this was the IPO price that many institutional investors got in at. This is called a “sentiment/psychological shift” lower type of trading play, that is covered in the Order Flow Mastery Course.

What To Do Now?

Just as years ago if you bought Facebook (FB), it was a very big bet on Mark Zuckerberg. An “alpha” play on him. You were coattaling his networth, with whatever money of yours you invested in the stock.

A very similar situation with a long trade on Snapchat, if you hold it for months or years. It is primarily a bet on the energetic and visionary leader – Evan Spiegel.

However, I would not necessarily go long at the current moment. It is possible there could be one more market correction and you can get in at an even better price.

Snapchat is under some pressure from Facebook’s Instagram. They are all claiming that they are copying each others ideas, etc.

Instagram, owned by Facebook, has about 250 million daily active users, while Snapchat has around 171 million. Instagram has 700 million monthly active users, while Snapchat has about 300 million. Instagram seems to be growing faster too. And a social media stock such as Snapchat can really depend on that daily and monthly active user number.

Can both Instagram and Snapchat coexist successfully?

Can Snapchat branch out away from their dependence on the mobile operating systems? Some analysts say they could become the next Viacom.

These are all good questions.

Also, the younger generation that uses the Snapchat app – can be very fickle. Meaning that they can be using Snapchat this month or this year, and next month or next year, be on to something different. Their tastes and interests can be very volatile. In both fashion and in the Apps that they use. Instagram has established some wide appeal and dominance and Snapchat is certainly trying to do this as well.

There are stop losses building below the recent low, and below the key $10 psychological level.

If they can be triggered, it can cause some capitulation selling by some longs that are disappointed.

And this is where you can swoop in to go long if you still believe in the stock.

I have a price alert at $10.00 and if the stock price gets below it, I will re evaluate the situation and see if it warrants going long. The position size could be small or medium or large depending on my conviction level.

If you enjoy this kind of analysis and find it profitable, then why not check out the Order Flow Mastery Course?Click HEREto get in before any price increases.

Let’s begin first with an example from the Chess Grandmaster – Magnus Carlsen

Plays 10 Chess Games At The Same Time, Without Looking At The Board!

Magnus Carlsen became one of the world’s youngest Chess grandmasters around the age of 13.

What is very telling and extraordinary, is how in his 60 minutes interview, it shows him playing chess against not one or two or three, but TEN other people at the same time. These chess Grandmasters can do that. They are that good. They can play chess against multiple amateurs at the same time and beat them. The amateurs can only handle one chess game at a time. But Magnus can handle ten of them.

Here is the amazing thing though: He is not even looking at the chess board. He is facing away from the chess boards. So he has to play ten simultaneous chess games, without even physically looking at the chess board. This requires an extraordinary amount of mind power, compartmentalization and scenario analysis abilities. The positions of 320 pieces, spread among ten chess boards have to be tracked in his mind. And all the possible moves for both him and his opponent.

This has very direct application to trading as well.

When I decided to learn macro in forex trading – I did it for all the major currencies of the world – the EUR, GBP, USD, JPY, CAD, etc. I didn’t just analyze one currency and get good at that. I made what seemed to be a bold move at that time, and went to keep track of all those currencies and their economies. I did not initially know how I was going to handle that surge of information flow. I did not have all the strategies from the Mastery Course I have now to more effortlessly manage the information flow and keep track of things.

But as Magnus Carlsen said of his childhood proficiency:

“I didn’t particularly know if I was good at it or not; I just tried to do it.”

Same with me years ago when I first started. I didn’t know if I could do it. I didn’t know if I could handle all that macro information in my mind. What I could do was try. And I could learn what information was important and what was not. And I did get better every week and month and did figure it out in the end.

With trading forex for example, I can plug in the information flow, the order flow, etc, to all the currency pairs I track.

I can plug in the information to the futures markets that I follow such as S&P, Bonds, Gold, etc.

I can plug in the information to the dozens of stocks I follow, etc.

I don’t limit myself to just following one currency pair or one futures contract, or a few stocks. My trading mind is capable of following much more than that. It is capable of virtually instantly playing out scenarios across a wide range of financial instruments. The “Battle of Scenarios” as I teach in the Mastery Course can be played out across multiple markets.

I did not start off being able to do this. I had to work at it. In the beginning it seemed like my brain would fry itself. It was tough. But it was not impossible. It became very possible.

New connections in my brain/mind had to be developed. My trading brain/mind had to mature much more to get rid of the destructive ego and empower the healthy ego. A constant striving for more robust principles and philosophy to apply had to be done. A constant striving for knowing virtually instantaneously which trading information was truthful, powerful and relevant and which was not, had to be developed. And it was a great joy seeing my trading mind develop month after month.

Therefore, be very careful when attempting to limit yourself to only trading one currency pair, only one stock, only one financial instrument. Even though it might seem like a stretch to follow multiple markets, it is very worth it. Your brain CAN handle it. If you learn how to better manage the information flow, etc, you can most certainly handle it – and actually find it an enjoyable thing to do.

One man was interviewing the hedge fund legend George Soros decades ago, and he seemed to notice that Soros’s mind was going from scenario to scenario. It was jumping from situation to situation. From scenario to scenario. That is what the interviewer noticed in Soros. And he was right on the mark. Soros’s ability to take in so much information and create market profits out of it has been key to his multi billion dollar fortune.

Drawing Examples From History

Carlsen also says that during a chess game, his mind is concentrating not only on the game he is currently playing, but also other games played by other chess Grandmasters at other times in history “that he might want to draw on.”

10,000 of these games in his memory.

I do a similar thing when I interpret the macro conditions, the information flow conditions in the current moment and compare them to some point in the past history. I have an active trading career over the past decade, but I can also draw upon hundreds of historical trade examples that I have committed to memory from the past 40 years, even the past 100 years. I have gone back and researched some of them. In some cases I have even recorded them into various files I have and they are labeled by the year. So I can go back to say, 1992, and see which were some of the greatest trades that year, one of them being Soros breaking the Bank of England, etc, and I can see if any of those examples are applicable to the current market moment.

To sum it up, Carlsen described the satisfying feeling “when you are playing brilliantly.” That feeling is “pretty up there” he says.

Sounds very similar to what George Soros responded when he made over $500 million for his hedge fund in 1985: “Heady stuff” he said. It’s a pretty good feeling – even an intoxicating feeling.

You too can give your trading mind the ability to hold more information and produce more profits, and give yourself that satisfying feeling – all with the Mastery Course.

From time to time I get messages from traders saying they are overwhelmed with interpreting the information flow for hours and hours every day. Some traders get burned out from it.

Sometimes the answer is to just to tough it out. To get better, more skilled at the handling of the information flow – and learn to enjoy it.

But other times the answer is to just stop trying to do so much.

Stop trying to force yourself to analyze the market for 3, 4, or 8 hours a day.

If you are spending 4 to 8 concentrated hours during a trading day to study and trade forex only, each and every trading day, you are probably doing something wrong. You should only be spending that amount of time if there is truly a big trade forming – like a 1,000 + pip global macro move and you are gathering up the evidence in support of such a trade and trying to get the timing right. Like, when George Soros broke the Bank of England in 1992 and made $1 billion. If his CIO was working for hours every trading day to perfect such a trade and get the timing right, etc, then that would be a wise investment of time.

However, if the market isn’t going to make a 1,000+ pip move, then you usually do not have to spend 4 or 8 concentrated hours solely trading forex. Someone who is spending such hours, is probably searching for opportunities and trading in multiple markets, not just in forex.

Therefore, again, stop trying to analyze the market for so many hours! I remember years ago where I would spend 4 hours a night, trying to analyze forex on an end of day basis, searching for opportunities. And I was doing that for months. I was doing way too much as a lot of the information I was interpreting was not necessary and of low value. I had to get better, and learn which information was most important to process. And when I did that, I was able to finish end of day forex only reasearch in about 30 minutes – 2 hours per day. Which was a massive improvement. I had so much time available for other activities.

Again, if you feel drained mentally, one of the ways is stop trying to solely analyze the forex market for so many hours in a day.

You can most certainly begin analyzing the market on an end of day basis for 10 minutes or 20 minutes or 30 minutes a day. You can implement very basic stop hunting and option barrier strategies to use in analyzing the market. And eventually, after some success with those, you can ramp up the time commitment so you can get to more advanced interpretation of information flow and global macro trading.

And in this way, you can gradually increase your desire and commitment to trading.

Gradually Build Up Exercise Tolerance

Take a non-trading example of someone who has a desire to start exercising, but hasn’t done so in many years. They are not going to start walking or jogging for 4 miles each and every day. That might be too much on their body systems. They might start off walking for 20 minutes a day and seeing how they feel. Walk for half a mile and see how they feel. They can build up to the walking for 2 miles a day or jogging for 4 miles a day, etc. So it’s a gradual thing.

I remember one time years ago I would go for a 20 minute walk, but come home exhausted. I wondered what was wrong with me. I resolved to figure it out. Now I can walk for 10 – 15 miles a day no problem. I can play hours of competitive tennis no problem. I didn’t get there overnight. It was a gradual build up to that.

One time I didn’t play tennis for a whole month because I was busy with various other projects I wanted to complete. When I started playing again, my legs were not as strong as they used to be. I wasn’t playing as well as I normally did. And I was very sore for a whole four days that it took me to fully recover. But once I started playing regularly again, then I didn’t need four days to recover. The next day after tennis I was good. My body got used to it.

Gradually Build Up Strength Training Tolerance

There was a time many years ago when I let my body go so much, I could barely do a push-up or two. I knew something was wrong. Eventually I turned things around and was able to do 40 – 50 pushups in my first set. I didn’t try to do 40 pushups right away. I had to build up to it. Did my 5 or 10 pushups for my workouts for a few weeks, then up to 15 or 20 for a few weeks, etc, etc.

I didn’t try to go maximum commitment right away. I had to build up to it.

Gradually Lose Weight With The Right Foods

Or like someone else who wants to lose weight but doesn’t want to completely change every single food they eat that is not helping them out. So they can start off with a gradual approach. The only changing one food out of the entire meal to a more nutritious food. And then see how much farther they want to take it from there.

Catch a Nice Trade, Desire Shoots UP!

For example, when you dedicate less than a hour at the end of day for trading, and implement some sound trading strategies, then you can catch a nice trade. And when that happens, it produces profit in your trading account, along with feelings of excitement and joy. You can make a few percent in a single trade, and you feel happy.

This helps to build up more and more trading desire.

And your mind starts playing out all of the delicious scenarios for the future about how much more you could make and continue to make, if you increased your desire and commitment from 30 minutes a day to an hour or two a day. And perhaps to go full-time if you so desire.

Desire, enthusiasm, etc, all comes from the mind. So with your mind playing out such scenarios, you start getting excited about all that you can do and all that you can become. You play out all the visualization of all the compounding of profits that you can do, etc.

Therefore, that’s one of the ways to increase your trading desire – catch a nice trade!

Gradual Desire to a Triple Digit Year

Same with trading, don’t necessarily try to go make 200% right away. The principle of protecting your precious capital, and grinding out smaller returns. And if you see an amazing opportunity, then you can risk more and “go for the jugular” and try to go for a triple digit year.

When George Soros produced a +68% return after fees in 1992, when he broke the Bank of England, that did not happen overnight. There was gradual research in the months prior to the trade about individual companies in Britain. That research showed some economic weakness and problems in the economy. And then eventually the idea came to the CIO at the time, Stanley Druckenmiller about how the British Pound was wildly overvalued. And eventually they started shorting it and it helped produce the +68% return. It wasn’t just overnight, the idea popped into his head to short $10 billion of British Pounds. No, it did not happen like that. It was gradually building up to such a market moment.

The Natural Trading Progression

With trading, you get taken in steps.

I didn’t learn and master Global Macro Trading right away. I wish I had, but it didn’t happen right away as I did not have anyone to teach me. I am self-taught in that regard with help from various books and articles.

I had a gradual progression from technical indicators to chart/price patterns, then to order flow trading via stops and option barriers. Then to news trading and then to global macro trading. And that’s how I teach order flow trading. We start off with the how and why of price movement. We go to stops and option barriers. Then to news trading and then to Global Macro Trading. And since that worked for me, it will probably work for other traders seeking to learn this craft.

It is my contention that one of the reasons people don’t learn trading is because they try to teach people things such as money management, position sizing, etc, or teaching people about Global Macro Trading, all without a clear understanding of some of the fundamental architecture of the market – how and why prices move, etc. And I would not seek to teach someone how to trade Global Macro Trading, without teaching news trading first.

That was one of the secret elements in my trading progression:

Mastering news trading, which formed the strong support structure and understanding to learn global macro trading.

Remember, don’t try to trade for 8 or 4 or 3 hours a day if that is stressing you out. Forget about such stress. And choose to only analyze the market at an end of day basis, for 20 minutes a day – via simple stop hunting and stop losses and option barriers techniques. Try that for a bit and you will begin to make progress beyond your wildest dreams. New desire and new questions that you will want answers to will come bursting forth form inside of you. And that’s where the Mastery Course comes in very handy.

Sure the quantum leaps and “leapfrogging” are highly desirable. But if you don’t get them every day then do the gradual approach. Gradual approach can work wonders as well.

Most traders don’t have a massive desire right away. It might take a year or two for the desire to really build up and crystallize. It’s okay. Better that it happens sooner, but that’s okay too. It took me a year or two as well for the desire to really build up and start figuring things out.

Some people send me messages telling me that they’ve been following my work passionately for a year or two before they finally buy something from me. That can work as well. Better that it happens sooner, but that’s okay too.

Of course, I would never want to tell anyone when they are or aren’t ready to make the leap to the next level. I would never want to tell anyone how fast or slow they should go. It is, at the end of the day – a personally decision, and an intensely personal one at that. I remember many moments years ago – where people were talking down to me, and it seemed to me they were trying to slow me down. And I did not like that. I wanted more work, more effort, and more speed. So that was a personal decision many years ago. But still, getting to that stage, there was the gradual increase in desire and effort and building skill, before finally getting to the point where it all accelerated.

One of the most critical skills as a trader, or even anyone living in the 21st century is that of being able to distinguish between reality vs delusion. To distinguish between trading truth vs falsehood.

The trading truth leads to profitable trades and thus trading success. The trading delusions and falsehoods leads to pain and suffering.

As there is just so much trading information generated every single day, week, month and year.

Just think of all the forex news articles, interviews, tweets, videos, forum posts, etc. The number just keeps rising every year. Anyone with some account on some website can post something. But does that make it true? Is what they are saying and posting coming from real trading wisdom? Is what they are saying and posting – measurably moving you towards trading success and profits or not? That is the question!

What prompted this blog post was my talk with someone who was many decades older than me. He was a bag of market delusions. He had so many of them. Constant criticism of the money managers. That they are a bunch of thieves.

I was talking to him about someone who bought a large amount of a certain stock. And he instantly went negative – saying the stock is going to fall, etc. That you put your money in the market and some mysterious force sucks all your money away, etc.

I would try to teach this person about how and why prices move. But it’s clear there is a lot of anger inside of him. It’s clear that this man has no genuine desire to learn about how and why prices move. So no point in trying.

Luckily I was only exposed to this drivel for 5 or 10 minutes. But still, that is 5 or 10 minutes too much.

On another occasion over the past few months, I finished my market research on Friday afternoon and my work day was done. I met up with a friend of a family member who I had not seen in many years. And he started to tell me his “market insights” that he thought he had. That with the stock market being at an all time high, that “now is the time to buy puts.” This is what he told me.

Since I had just finished my market research an hour or two before, all the relevant information was fresh in my mind, and I knew what this man was saying was not true.

When I left the office that Friday night, the stock market closed at the top tick of the day, and at an all time record high. An all time record high. And I did not see any bearish scenario worth betting on. But still this man (who is delusional) persisted and insisted that this was the time to buy puts. I was trying to explain to him why I did not believe that was an accurate assessment of market conditions, but it’s clear he doesn’t have any genuine desire to see another perspective. So I just blessed him and let go. He had no special market strategy or secret sauce. The only thing he had was market delusions.

And yes, the stock market kept on marching higher after that day.

On another occasion I was talking to someone who thought that someone only makes money with insider trading, etc. And I knew extensively about the person they were talking about and I knew such claims were not true. The hedge fund manager was legit. I knew that because I had done the research and had extensive knowledge about this person, PLUS, I was able to use the trading strategy in my own account and place a sequence of profitable trades. So I knew the hedge fund manager was a true success.

But this delusional man I was talking to, persisted in his delusional beliefs. Turns out this was the same man who a few years earlier roamed around in some trading forum, got excited about some system there, and loaded up on a trading account with a few thousand dollars and used a crazy high leverage and wiped out.

I guess he didn’t get much smarter over the years.

Develop Time Management and Mental Defenses

So how do you protect yourself from these situations?

There are a few different ways. You must develop more effective time management and also mental defenses.

The best way is to just not talk to these people in the first place. Not spent time with them. Why should you have to spent time on such delusional market philosophy being spewed by someone? You have so many better things to do.

Here’s a story for you: I learned a lot in my first few years from one of my trading mentors with the information they put out. Eventually I surpassed their knowledge and skill. A few opportunities came up where I could work with him on various projects, but I declined to do so. Why was that? Because I felt that this trader, even though I learned a lot my first few years, had way too many trading delusions, and I was not fond of the friends he kept, etc. So I avoided him. And I felt that was the right decision.

Now, sometimes this is not always possible – 100% of the time. We live with many other people in this world, and throughout your lifetime, you may encounter some of these folks.

So the next best thing – is to limit time with them. There were many times when my family would be having a party and celebration, and if I was forced to attend and I wasn’t thrilled with the conversation and what was going on, I would limit my time spent there. Instead of spending 6 hours there, I might spend 3 hours there. Instead of spending 4 hours there, I might spend 2 hours there. So I would get in some family time as best as I could, and then I would leave them to do their thing, which gave me more time to do my market research and personal growth.

So in the case of the story referenced earlier in this article, I was able to limit the exposure to delusions to only 5 or 10 minutes. Which is a lot better than spending 30 minutes or an hour with such a person. I limited the damage.

So those are some simple time management strategies you can use.

You should also develop mental skills and mental defenses as well. So if you have to be with such people, you know how to instantly cancel out their delusional beliefs. And then after you are finished spending time with them, you can instantly refocus your mind on your amazing and successful trading philosophy and strategies and have all of that flash in your mind.

One of the things I have learned over the years is not to spend too much time trying to teach people how to trade, if I believe they lack desire, if they lack genuine desire. I may only give such a person I meet only a very shortened version, say 3 minutes or a 30 second version. Or perhaps I might decline to tell them at all, and just change the subject to something else. My time is better spent elsewhere, for example with people here on this website who really want to learn how to trade.

Take an example of when I was at a family members home. They had a friend over and this person asked me about how I pick stocks, my trading system, philosophy, etc. And I gave him the 3 minute version of my trading journey. I condensed my journey, right there on the spot to 3 minutes. I was quite proud of myself at how clearly I explained it, all impromptu. I gave him the best 3 minutes of trading and investing information that man will ever probably get. But that was the end of it. I didn’t think he had any desire after that, so I declined to go further. I could have tried to sell him on one of my trading courses, etc, but I felt he wasn’t nowhere near my ideal customer.

Avoiding the Forum Crowd, Avoiding the Delusions

Still, not very many are practicing these simple and effective strategies. I still see lots of aspiring traders stuck in the forum crowd, with other delusional traders.

The forum crowd, most of them are in delusion. The land of the blind being led by the slightly less blind. Most of them are not going to break out of that vicious cycle. Not that they can’t do it. Every single one of them could do it – breakout into massive trading success. But if they are still in the trading forums, and there is a lack of good information and strategies there, then they can struggle to do it.

The plugging themselves into the electrifying trading information, must come from sources other than the trading forums. Most of my trading strategies don’t come from the trading forums. They came from books, articles, my own personal trading journey and journal, and massive action on my part. That’s how I developed my trading strategies. Not from roaming the trading forums for dozens of hours in a week. You can find my trading strategies in the Order Flow Mastery Course.

There could be an amazing trade coming in the near future, that the forum crowd misses out on… because they are focused on the delusions in the forums, rather than on doing the simple process, to find the good trades.

I even had a family member on several occasions, continue to use the trading forums and tell me about some hot new trading system that he found. This is after I gave him some trading signals and he made good money on them. For this man, it did not “click” in his mind that the trading strategy used to generate such profitable trades, was nowhere to be found on any trading forums. He didn’t realize that. And he kept on spending some of his spare time on the trading forums.

So make no mistake about it, this is one of the battles being fought in your life every day. It’s not just a battle between the bulls and the bears in EUR/USD or USD/JPY and figuring out which side is going to be more aggressive and going to win out. There is also the battle of the information that leads to trading success vs the delusional information and philosophies that lead to pain and suffering. And both kinds of information come from people. People generate both the truthful and delusional information. So you have to be on guard every day of your life. Once you get good, it happens automatically and effortlessly and you don’t have to expend a lot of energy to do that. When you get good, you can “instantly know.”

On a final note, I will end with this rule I have lived by and it has served me well:

Don’t let any delusional person, whether in the forums, or on the street, or in your family, keep you from making $50k, $500k or more trading the financial markets. You don’t let them sabotage your success like that. You learn how to bless them, let go, compartmentalize and go on your own journey to making your fortune.

And you don’t have to do it alone. You can get the jumpstart you have been looking for – by clicking here. It includes all the strategies you need for fighting the profit-sucking delusional people, and for finding the big moves in the market!

There is the grand importance of injecting not just a small amount, but a giant amount of enthusiasm in your trading.

Let’s go over all the reasons why this is so:

Enthusiastic Traders Lead Better Lives

There is a saying that “salesmen lead better lives.” Well, that is true, and what is also true is that enthusiastic traders lead better lives. Not just better trading account performance, but also better in all areas of life.

Why is that?

Well, in trading, you are selling yourself on yourself – every day. Every day you wake up to trade, or whether you do end of day or end of week analysis, you are still selling yourself on yourself. You are selling yourself on your analysis capabilities, on your process for finding the good trades and executing your strategy and plan. You are selling yourself on your ability to manage your emotions along the way. You are selling yourself on your ability to know what to do with the flood of profits that comes into your trading account. You are selling yourself on so much – every moment you are trading.

So therefore, it can really be a battle between not just between the bulls and the bears. It can really be a battle between: Enthusiasm vs Extinction.

I have received many messages from traders over the years. And my read of the situation is that those traders who are more enthusiastic, they learn faster and make more money too. Those who have a bit of humbleness, genuine desire to learn, coupled with enthusiasm, they tend to learn faster and make more money. That is what I have noticed. And it is no coincidence.

That combination of:

Humbleness + Genuine desire to learn + Enthusiasm = great things are on the way

Enthusiasm Can Shield You From Everything

I am a bit calmer nowadays, but, there was a certain stage in my life where I was much more feisty – and enthusiastic. If anyone tried to attack me and criticize me, I would respond with ENTHUSIASM. I would get enthusiastic about my plan I had for the rest of the day. I was enthusiastic about the work I had planned for the day. I was enthusiastic about the reading and studying I had planned for the day. I was enthusiastic about the person I was planning to meet.

I would ignore the haters – and I would get enthusiastic.

And it worked. It produced some of the happiest and most profitable days and years in my life.

One superstar in her field said that enthusiasm can shield you from anything and everything.

So therefore, enthusiasm can shield you from not just many things – enthusiasm can shield you not just from so many things – enthusiasm can shield you from EVERYTHING.

If you take a look at young people who are achieving or are on the path to achieving great things – in sports, entertainment, business, etc, you will notice a special energy to them. A special kind of excitement. They are looking forward to achieving the next goal and next goal and the next one, etc. They are excited to fulfill the next desire and then the next one, etc.

They intuitively know that enthusiasm can shield you. Enthusiasm is your armor and shield that cannot be pierced by anything.

There were literally hundreds of times people criticized me, talked down to me and I just ignored them and went to work on a project – with enthusiasm. And that did the trick. It made me happy and made me money.

So in my early years where there was a lot of criticism directed at me, I found the solution:

Get to work with enthusiasm. To have some habits I could do that would build skill and profit potential and do them – with enthusiasm.

Take another example where there would be many times I would be on the phone with family members or friends. And they would tell me I sounded so enthusiastic!

Well, I was genuinely enthusiastic.

Perhaps I had a great trading day.

Perhaps I found a new trade idea.

Perhaps I figured out the answer to a pressing problem.

Etc.

Often times I have come into a room or home filled with people who seemed to be in despair, horrible attitude, and I came in with enthusiasm – backed up with wisdom, love and cash in the bank, etc, and I lit up the room. I lit up the room. I was able to change the atmosphere in the entire room, entire house, all by myself. Sure, it helped that my reputation preceded me, but still – there was a very importance element of enthusiasm in play as well.

Enthusiasm also helped me to reduce any body pain I had, or reduce the symptoms of various disease that I had. Enthusiasm was a component of healing me from so much. If you want to know of all the healing secrets that I know of, get on the early bird list for my new mega book.

Enthusiasm can not only make you happier, make you more money, but it can also lead to a more disease free life.

Sometimes my nephews and nieces wonder why I am so enthusiastic when I come over their homes. At times, they are perplexed.

Well, there are many reasons.

First, I don’t see them every day, so when I see them, it is something special and that warrants enthusiasm.

And even if I did see them every day, I would still prefer to be enthusiastic.

And also because, there are times they get the cold/flu, etc, and I know if they would be in a more enthusiastic state, a joyous state, those would not happen as often, and if they did, they would resolve faster. I know this because I spent a decent chunk of my childhood in this sickness and that illness, etc. So ENTHUSIASM can protect you from illness, disease. It’s not the only component, but it can be a component of a healthy and active life.

And if they try to say: Well what reasons do you have for coming over enthusiastic? Well, sometimes I bring gifts, so that is a reason to be enthusiastic. I have gifts for them! And in some cases I have given them books to read, information to review. So if they are in a bad mood, feeling down, etc, I can tell them to READ TO attain new ideas and perspective. They can’t say I don’t give them good information to work with. When I was a teenager I was not given good information to work with, and things took a bit longer than they should have. So I made sure not to make that mistake with my nieces and nephews.

Ideas Only For The Enthusiastic

Some people wonder why some people can do great things, and others cannot. Why can some people come up with amazing trading strategies and others are left with ineffective trading systems? Why do some people make a lot of money and others are left with the breadcrumbs in life? Why can some people come up with ideas for bestselling books, songs, movies, etc, and others cannot?

Are they born with it? Is it genetic?

Well – the answer is this:

There are certain ideas that are highly relevant and profitable to YOU – that you can only tap into these ideas and group of ideas – ONLY with enthusiasm. If you are always in a more normal state, you may not be able to tap into this reservoir of ideas.

The Order Flow Mastery Coursewas written in a very high enthusiastic and high consciousness state, thus ensuring that the insights and strategies in there are of very high quality. If I had created it without any enthusiasm, it wouldn’t have been as good as it is.

The intelligent trader – WITH enthusiasm, with excitement, will tend to outperform just the intelligent trader who does not have these other qualities. That is usually how it works.

You can take the two exact same traders. Only difference is enthusiasm. The enthusiastic trader will win over the medium term and beyond and make more money.

Buffett was described as “tap dancing” to work. That his version of enthusiasm and excitement – his tap dancing.

There is the concept of the “enthusiasm gap” in most people. There can be a lack of enthusiasm in most people. So if the 95% are not enthusiastic, well you don’t want to be like that. You much prefer to be enthusiastic and join the 5% club.

Since with enthusiasm – you can tap into highly relevant, powerful and profitable ideas you never thought of before, you should always be on the lookout for ways to be STOKED for the day. You learn to create your own reasons why. Someone else’s list of reasons, may not match 100% with your reasons. So you create your own list that works for you over time.

If I ever feel bored now, I have many projects waiting on the side for me to dive into. Whether writing a new blog post, or writing a new book, or researching a new trading strategy. In fact, there is a new book coming out soon about attaining maximum physical energy and enthusiasm in your trading. Click here to get on the early bird list.

Enthusiasm was my strongest shield at certain moments. I just got enthusiastic and went to work, and the resources, ideas seemed to come to me. Sometime later in the day. Sometimes later in the week.

If you ever see someone depressed or suicidal… they could use some joy and enthusiasm in their life in a way they can interpret properly. To get fired up about something to talk about, something to do, someone to see, etc.

Enthusiasm Can Lead to Dominoing Opportunities

Enthusiastic traders can tend to DOMINO opportunities – to find those opportunities for compounding profits, not just on a yearly basis, but also find those opportunities for compounding profits on a monthly basis or even at times, on a weekly basis.

They find ways to compound profits because… they are enthusiastic!! So that possibility enters their mind and if they are enthusiastic, they can do the work to find such opportunities.

A trader in a more normal state may automatically assume that they got a nice trade, and now the next great trade may only happen in a few months. They may not be open to the possibility that the next great trade may happen over the next two weeks. But an enthusiastic trader is most definitely open to such a possibility!

Paul Tudor Jones back in 1987, achieved a stunning 200% return. How do you achieve such a return? You have to domino opportunities on a quarterly, monthly and sometimes weekly basis. That’s how you do it. During the week of the Black Monday stock market crash in October 1987, he had a wildly successful short S&P trade. He didn’t stop there thinking that was it for the month. He found another long bond trade that was also very profitable. For the month of October he made a +61.8% return. Was that it for the rest of the year? Nope. In November, he made another +17.0%. No wonder he called it one of the most exciting periods of his life up until that point.

George Soros after he had his whirlwind year in 1985 making +123% return, which was about $500 million dollars in profits, he called it: “heady stuff.” The dictionary defines “heady” as: intoxicating, exhilarating, thrilling, stimulating.

The average traders believes only in compounding profits on a yearly basis. Like you make money this year, and then compound it next year. That’s very average thinking, very mediocre thinking.

The superior trader, the extraordinary, enthusiastic trader, realizes there can be opportunities to compound profits on a quarterly, monthly or even weekly basis.

Take a look at George Soros’s Alchemy of Finance, where he pulls a +147% return within 12 months. He didn’t do that by waiting to compound profits on a yearly basis. He did that by finding opportunities to compound profits on a quarterly, monthly and even weekly basis.

Therefore, get some of that enthusiasm. Get some of that passion. That power of enthusiasm and passion to work for you – to get the ideas you never would have gotten otherwise.

You Can Have Enthusiasm, Even With So Little

Some people wonder if they can get enthusiasm if they don’t have a large account? Can you have enthusiasm with just a $10,000, $5,000, or $1,000 trading account?

Yes, you can!

Can you have enthusiasm even if you do not understand complex information flow and global macro trading strategies?

Yes, you can!

Enthusiasm is not dependent on your account size, or whether you know every piece of the puzzle.

Rather, having the desire to get started with whatever money you have, and whatever knowledge you have is enough. For you attain that magical attitude and intuitive knowing that it is not about where you are now – but where you are going!

You can learn fast with the right books, the right courses, and you can then latch onto even a tiny trading strategy or idea or habit to implement. You don’t have to know it all. In fact, one of the highest percentage profitable trades I ever placed, occurred when I did not have as much global macro knowledge as I have now. I didn’t know everything. But I did know enough. And that enough was good for a huge percentage gain on just one trade. I implementing whatever I knew at the time – with enthusiasm.

That’s the trick: Implement what you can now – with enthusiasm.

It is very possible to have enthusiasm – even if you don’t know totally what you are doing. I surely had some highly profitable trades in my early years, where I traded with great enthusiasm, even if I didn’t know completely what I was doing. I knew enough. I knew enough to find a good trade and manage it and exit it. I didn’t have to know 100% of what was going on with eight different currencies around the world or every global macro situation. I knew enough about a currency pair and the macro situation between those countries, and that was more than enough for a great trade.

Similar to what I talk about in The Perfect Trade Blueprint, where you don’t have to line up all the 8 rules. You can just get a few right and line those up for a great trade.

Remember: Enthusiasm is not genetic. It’s not like you are born with it or not born with it.

Anyone that tells you that you can’t be enthusiastic, well that is not true.

You can certainly self generate enthusiasm. You can certainly develop it. It is a power that we ALL have. Sometimes it comes gradually – you gradually raise your enthusiasm. But other times it can come as a RUSH. And at other times, there can be a mixture of gradual raising of enthusiasm, plus some “quantum leaps” along the way.

There was a time I was not enthusiastic. But I learned how to be in much better control of my mind and body – and able to turn on the enthusiasm.

Even if you are not at a large trading account level or high trading knowledge level. Your enthusiasm can generate ideas to get you to that high level of trading account and knowledge. That enthusiasm that you generate can be converted into more wisdom.

A lot of problems were solved for me by waking up and getting to work enthusiastically on some problem or set of challenges. Even if I did not know the perfect action to take, I did know something to do to get the ball rolling. And eventually I found the even better and more accurate and powerful actions.

Enthusiasm + Taking Care of Your Body + Mind

If someone seeks to generate enthusiasm – it is important to take care of your body. To eat right, exercise, etc, to be free of pain and free of disease.

There is the importance of taking care of both your body and mind in order to have the highest chance to be enthusiastic. Because if you are in constant daily pain, suffering from this illness and that disease it can be kind of hard to generate enthusiasm.

There was a time I was not enthusiastic, and I investigated the cause of it. And the reason I discovered was that I was not taking care of my body. As I was allowing my body to degrade, my enthusiasm power was greatly reduced.

And, another time I was not enthusiastic because I was not feeding my mind the amazing ideas.

The taking care of your Mind is taken care of with the powerful trading habits…

Enthusiasm + Powerful Trading Habits

It’s true that an increase in the amount of energy and enthusiasm you are putting out on a daily basis, is not always going to directly attribute to an increase in profits. You still have to do smart things with that enthusiasm.

So therefore, enthusiasm is not the only ingredient. A person can be an enthusiastic idiot. That’s possible too. These kinds of people exist as well.

But, by and large, enthusiasm for me has done a lot more good than harm.

Though, you don’t have to box yourself in like that.

You can make the choice to be enthusiastic and have a reason for it.

So the further secret with enthusiasm is to: Be enthusiastic and have a reason to be so!

This is a higher level of life and trading principles.

Not just to smile. Not just to be enthusiastic – but to also have a good reason to smile and a good reason to be enthusiastic.

So that combination of taking care of your body, taking care of your mind with proper trading habits, granted me much more sustained enthusiasm over many years and counting.

I have read a few billionaires who said they sought to hire people who had:

Enthusiasm, Intelligence and Integrity.

They did not say they sought out to hire people who were only enthusiastic. They wanted enthusiasm, plus intelligence, and integrity to ethical principles, etc. Because they know there are some people who are enthusiastic, dumb and like to lie, cheat and steal. So why hire such people?

Obviously, much better to hire someone who is enthusiastic, smart and has integrity to high ethical principles.

The average person on the street tends to lack enthusiasm. And if they do have it, it may not be justified enthusiasm!!!

Too many traders with poor attitudes and lacking in faith, because they don’t have a trading edge. They do not have a process that works.

So how to have enthusiasm – real enthusiasm – not just false enthusiasm?

The secret I discovered and developed for myself, is in having trading habits you can believe in that provide an edge in the market. So then I can have real, justified enthusiasm – every trading day – because the habits, the process work. I can then have enthusiasm for the trading process to apply. I could get to work with enthusiasm, and not wake up not knowing what to do to produce results.

With each lesson and trading strategy revealed, your enthusiasm will grow and grow to unheard of levels.

]]>http://orderflowforex.com/2017/07/power-enthusiasm-trading/feed/0http://orderflowforex.com/2017/07/power-enthusiasm-trading/Trading Growth With The Simple Things – Continuedhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OrderFlowForex/~3/29c-Sj3bE8E/
http://orderflowforex.com/2017/06/trading-growth-simple-things-continued/#respondMon, 12 Jun 2017 15:11:49 +0000http://orderflowforex.com/?p=33649There can be more and more trading growth – by doing the simple things.

You don’t have to get complicated right away. You can do so much with the simple things. The simple concepts.

There was a college basketball coach who did not start teaching players how to do layups or defense. He started teaching how to tie their shoes!! Why would he do that? Don’t they know already? Don’t the 18-21 year olds, know how to do that? They have all this energy, all this excitement of youth, all this raw speed and strength. Why can’t they do their shoelaces right?

But still, the coach knew that despite knowing the athletes were talented, taught them how to tie their shoes. He knew their mind powers and awareness was not fully developed yet and taught them how to tie their shoes.

Similarly, when I was watching a high school basketball game, I noticed that the players, some of them were very tall and very strong and very fast. But still, they suffered from inhibitions. Since I am older than them and went through that stage, I could tell they were playing with a lot of fear. They had so many missed opportunities, so many unnecessary turnovers, etc. Their maximum potential was surely greatly reduced because of the lack of awareness of doing the simple things right. They mind power was not fully developed yet. They were certainly not as polished as the Golden State Warriors.

Therefore, we can apply this example in the trading world as well.

Doing the simple things can lead to progress and profits. That is what a trader seeks:

Progress and Profits.

Doing the simple things like if you opt in to get a free report, you actually download it and read it. Take the time to read it in full and gain knowledge. If you can’t do it that same day, set aside time at the end of the week to do so.

To boost your confidence there are Apps you can download where you rejoice in the little daily wins you get. You write them down every day. And try the next day, the next week to write down even bigger ones that you accomplished. Some traders are in such a state where they could benefit greatly from this activity.

Just recently, a member sent me emails over a month or so asking various questions. I could tell he kept asking better questions. He was getting smarter and more skilled every week. And after a month or so, he said he finally nailed a good trade and made money.

That’s how it is done! He deserved every dollar of profit. He earned it.

Taking all you know, implementing it this current week. Having a bunch of questions that you would like answers to. Getting the new knowledge and perspective. And then trying again the next week. That is a pretty good and simple plan – that we all can do.

Doing simple things like starting and finishing a trading book, and not leaving it 10% read for a year or two. Actually finishing it.

Doing little things like writing down what big moves happened over the past month and finding out why.

These little things can and do add up to trading skill and ultimately to trading profits.

Often times a “low tech” approach can be better than a “high tech” approach.

If someone cannot do the simple things, what makes them think they can place a great trade and make a +40% return -and actually keep the money? If you can’t do the simple things, then what makes someone think they can trade at a very high level with full mastery of the information flow and global macro?

I had to start with some simple things.

There were times in my first year or two, where I would be spending dozens of hours on the trading forums. What the heck was I doing? I was spinning my wheels. If I sought wisdom – in how and why prices moved. If I dedicated time to gaining wisdom, then the following week could have gone better. I would have been spending the same amount of time. I just had to “switch” the time to gaining wisdom, rather than listening to the B.S. in the trading forums.

And don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you automatically have to spend $5,000 or $10,000 to succeed in trading. Spending it on data feeds, those news services, this and that, etc.

Well, sometimes you don’t need that.

You can make great progress, attain great skill starting with little to no cost, like some of the things mentioned above.

“Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.”

– Jim Rohn

In The Order Flow Profit Ladder, there are a number of different strategies, with some simpler to implement than others.

Some of the more simpler trading strategies revolve around knowledge of Stop Losses, Stop Hunting and Option Barriers.

And a trader should marvel at how these simple things can matter so much. By doing such simple actions, consistently, 5 days a week or every week, a trader can find opportuntiies in the market. A trader can find those inefficiencies.

Something as simple as labeling a key stop loss level and putting a price alert on it… can lead to profit for your trading account.

So therefore, one way to deal with overwhelm is to just pick one thing to do. Even if its a simple thing to do.

Then, when that is completed, you move on to the next thing on your list.

This may sound simple, almost too simple, but still a lot of great traders can operate like this.

I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the story.

One of the greatest hedge fund legends in history, back in the 1980’s, turned his attention to a new IPO. He focused on whether he should buy it, how much, etc. He was talking it over with one of his analysts. And then he came to a decision. And that was that. The gist of what he told his analyst/trader was:

“If the stock goes up you buy more. It does not matter how big of a percentage of the portfolio the stock becomes. You buy more.”

Just like that. He focused on a stock. Took in the information and made a decision.

And after that decision, he turned his focus to another task. So that focus on one thing at at a time – that focus on analyzing one currency pair, one financial instrument at a time. Then after you are done, you can move to another one, is certainly a viable path for you to take.

Trading is not a “All or Nothing” endeavor. You don’t have to do all the analysis or else its not going to work. Sometimes, some simple habits can work just fine.

If you haven’t mastered 10 habits, but only 1 or 2 or 3, that’s perfectly fine. You can do those 1,2 or 3 skills. Feel good about doing them and then worry about the rest later. You can master the rest later. But make some progress today. If at trader can go to bed feeling that they made some progress, even a just a little, that is a good feeling to start the next day with.

Just simple things like labeling stops, seeing how the market responds to news. Simple actions such as these can lead to profitable trades, sometimes big trades.

When you nail that good trade, using just a simple tools, your mind expands and starts racing through scenarios of all that you can do, all the money you could make, if you learned even more.

Getting good at using stop losses and exotic option barriers in the market. You can gain this knowledge in a week, or a few weeks. It doesn’t take a year or two. Then once you are using those, you can then proceed to getting good on how to incorporate information flow and global macro into your trading.

But the principle is the same: You can start somewhere. You can start today. You can do something today. You can make a big or small step today.

So when people tell me about the Mastery Course: “there are so many good strategies, which ones do I start with?

I tell them: Start with what you feel comfortable. Start with the simple ones, the ones that only take 5 minutes, 15 minutes a day. The stop hunting and option barrier strategies. Then as you get comfortable, you can work your way up to more information flow and global macro mastery.

As you do some simple things, gain mastery over the simple things, both your confidence level and your desire to do more is raised and quickened.

You can move to more advanced concepts because you have a foundation in skill already there. You have prepared yourself to go farther.

Therefore, any time you are struggling ask yourself:

“What simple things am I not doing, that I should be doing?”

In the game of tennis, the way scoring is done is via points, games and sets. To win the match you need to win 2 or 3 sets. To win a set, you need to win at least 6 games in the match. To win a game you need to get at least 4 points in that game. So, you play perfectly, you need to win all 48 or 72 points. Most likely your opponent will win some points. So the average tennis game can include the playing of hundreds of points. And a tennis player must have a philosophy for confronting this obstacle to winning the match.

And one tennis player had a philosophy where he learned to take it a few points at a time. To stop looking at all he has to do over the next few hours. To stop looking at all the hundreds of points that can be played. To only take it a few points at a time until he won the game. And then a few points at a time until we won the next game. And so on and so forth.

He would not force himself to say:

“There are hundreds of points to play, how am I going to get through it all and make good decisions on all of them?”

He DID NOT do that to myself.

He just did the simple things: Focusing on the next few points. And then the next few. Until he won the game and then the set, and eventually he won the tournament.

That made things so much easier for him.

Or take an example of a baby. Babies don’t automatically start sprinting in the Olympics. They start crawling, then start walking, then start running, then start sprinting as they grow bigger. And so on and so forth.

So for you, you can take it one step at a time as well.

You can do the same thing in your trading. Focusing on the first few simple steps and then moving on to the more advanced stuff, if you desire.

So get a piece of the puzzle right, and then the next piece. Then the next one. Get one habit going. Then another. And you can find a great trade.

As talked about in The Perfect Trade Blueprint: You don’t have to line up all of the 8 rules for a great trade. Just a few them lined up can be more than enough for a great trade.